Speakers currently include Matt Mullenweg, Beau Lebens of IndenseDebate, Rubén Rincón of Nokia, Armanod Sosa, Edgar Garcia, David Valdez, and Ricardo Meza of Mozilla Mexico. Topics include WordPressMU, Flutter, blog comment management, bbPress, BuddyPress, Marketing in Social Media, WordPress as a business CMS, working with WordPress and Dreamweaver, Mobile blogging, translations, and more.

The Conference Schedule is packed. There is a lot of focus on social media, as well as customized tracks that focus on special interest blogging and online networking and promotions such as Real Estate, mommy bloggers, military blogging, business blogging, and more.

WordCamp Las Vegas will be running during the event.

The two day event is packed with a wide variety of speakers covering WordPress, WordPressMU, bbPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Theme design and development, BuddyPress, WordPress for businesses, and more.

Expect this WordCamp to fill up immediately, if it hasn’t already.

The speakers currently are José Conti covering WordPressMU, BuddyPress, and bbPress, Angel Docampo, Raúl Illana, Matt Mullenweg, Jane Wells, José Fontainhas on the translation community of WordPress and how you can help, Fernando Tellado on bbPress, Luis Rull and Rafael Poveda on blog writing and building an online community, and Fernando Muñoz on WordPress and SEO.

They are finalizing the speakers, but so far, the WordCamp event will feature Scott Porad of the Cheezburger Networking, Angelo Mandato of the The WordPress Plugins Podcast, Greg Keller of Lijit, John Pozadzides of Woopra, iFusion, and One Man’s Blog, Pete Mall, Jeremy Wright, Darren Rowse, Chris Garrett, Glenda Watson Hyatt, Aaron Brazell, Aaron Kronis of Wpromoter.com, Jane Wells, Damien Patton, and Brett Bumeter.

With Blog World Expo at the same time, expect this WordCamp to fill up immediately, so don’t wait.

While there are some top speakers, the incredible accessibility evangelist, Glenda Watson Hyatt of Do It Myself Blog will be speaking. I highlighted her presentation at Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) in Glenda Watson Hyatt: Is Your Blog Disabled? with a short video on the Blog Herald. She is also author of the popular selling book, I’ll Do It Myself.

If you live in the western side of Canada, or in Oregon or Washington, this is a WordCamp worth attending!

Tickets are available now and you can catch up with them also through their Twitter account.

This year, they are splitting up the event into four tracks, allowing people to choose the level that is appropriate to them. There is a beginner, intermediate, developer, and Twitter track. The speakers so far include Rebecca Bollwit, John Chow, Raul Pacheco, Lorraine Murphy, John Biehler, Kulpreet Singh, Tris Hussey, Gary Jones, and Rainer Schmoll.

Whether or not your event is totally unconference or structured, this tips could help you have a successful WordPress event.

• Aaron Hockley – Reflections: Notes from Running WordCamp Portland
• What You Need to Consider When Planning a WordCamp Event
• Capulet Communications – How to Run a Great Barcamp or Unconference
• Agent Genius – I Want Your Inman Connect SF ‘08 Experience to be a Good One
• Agent Genius – 5 Extra Tips for a Better RE BarCamp Experience
• Getting Sponsors for Podcamp, Barcamp, or Any Other Event
• Ricky Soo – Barcamp: The Ideal Learning Platform
• Marketing Services Talk – Mirage Events explains pros and cons of event pitching
• Marketing Services Talk – Mirage Events White Paper Gives Event Organisation Tips
• Marketing Services Talk – Mirage Events: Why the recce is essential for successful events
• Marketing Services Talk – Mirage Events: Producing a creative – and successful – event
• Library Support – Event Planning Tips (great basic tips)
• La Luna Blanca – BarCamp Tips
• GlitchNYC – 10 Tips for Making The Most of BarCamp
• Fried Beef: 8 Tips on How to Run Your Own UnConference
• Event Manager Blog – 20+ Resources For A Smooth BarCamp
• Clever Clever Girl – 10 Steps on how to run a BarCamp
• Amit Ranjan – Dummies Guide to BarCamp
• Podcamp Boston – Lessons Learned from PodCamp
• Doug Belshaw – Productivity, Organization & #tweetmeet
• Chimprawk – Advice on how to run a BarCamp
• Green Your Next Event Using These Simple Tips – Daily Loaf

John Pozadzides of One Man’s Blog completed his second year organizing and producing the popular WordCamp Dallas and he shared the details of the costs of such an event in “An Open-Source Look at the Cost of WordCamp Dallas.”

However, I’ve decided that in the interests of the community I will share as many details as possible so that others who are looking to put on an event of this kind will understand what it’s going to take before they attempt to do it. The last thing we need are surprises, especially where money is involved.

Keep in mind that the costs outlined here were to cover around 350 attendees, plus live streaming of the event to a few hundred more around the world. Also know that WordCamp Dallas 2008 had a similar outcome, but at around 65% of the values here.

There are some good tips in the comments as well, but it is important to note that costs like the facility, insurance, and sign language interpreters are often necessary and required by the laws of the government, be it federal or local. They must be put into the budget if they apply.

There are a lot of things to consider when making a budget plan, and a lot of extra costs that come up during the process and the event that can catch the organizers off guard.

Brendan Sera-Shriar of WordCamp Toronto wrote on the WordCamp Montreal wiki about the costs associated with producing WordCamp Toronto (WCT), stating:

Before I started organizing WCT 2009 I spoke with a few other organizers about this. In Vancouver they spent over $10,000, last year’s WCT (which had a free venue) they also spent just over $10,000. The average I got from most organizers online was any where from $8,000 (for really small 1 day WordCamps) up to $30,000 (for 2 day and much larger WordCamps).

My final total at the end of everything was $23,000. It adds up quick, I was paying for stuff the off and during the event. Small issues arise, things need to be taking care, and some stuff you just can’t plan for.

Brendan admitted that one of the things they screwed up was with the wireless Internet access. One of the biggest unanticipated costs and demands by WordCamp attendees is usually the WIFI. While they are forgiving in every way for mediocre speakers, food, and even venue, the inability to connect to the Internet for free can make or break such an event. While the attendees expect it for free, WIFI can cost plenty.

Trying to predict all the costs is tough, but luckily, WordCamps are now into their fourth year, so there are a lot of organizers willing to share their insights into how to produce such an event, and how to save money and pay for what you really need.

Financial Disclosure

While much of the energy and enthusiasm goes into promoting the event, it is part of the “rules” of Barcamps, and recommended to disclose the budget and final financial report of a WordCamp event.

A public budget and financial report lets people know how much it really costs and is keeping with the “open source” concept that supports the WordPress Community, as John Pozadzides described. It is critical that a WordCamp not be a “money-maker” but a community event. Most important, it helps educate and prepare others who are considering a WordCamp event in their area.

The WordCamp Australia wiki is the documentation for their past two years of WordCamps and includes financial reports and status in a fairly formal Robert’s Rules of Order meeting notes format. This keeps all volunteers and participants up-to-date on the financial affairs of the group and event, as well as helps alert the coordinators to the needs of the event, both financial and otherwise.

This was not presented in this format for the volunteers, but as part of the responsibility of becoming an official non-profit organization, the WordCamp Association in Australia. The official status comes with some requirements as well as some protection for the individuals. If the event loses money, who is responsible? By forming a government recognized legal business with a non-profit or corporate status that protects the individuals against the debt of the company, as well as other liability protections. It also tells the world that this isn’t just a one-off event, but one that will continue, no matter who is in charge, if there is enough interest. Check with your local government for licenses, permits, and the requirements for such official status to see how you may or may not benefit.

Share Your WordCamp Lessons

A WordCamp event is not produced nor organized by one person. It takes a team to make a successful WordCamp, as well as good, involved sponsors to help offset the costs beyond the ticket price. If you are considering bringing a WordCamp to your community, it’s important to learn from others about how to produce a WordCamp, as well as from the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

A new WordCamp LinkedIn group formed recently and two discussions are worth noting. WordCamp Producers Tips and Advice and WordPress Meetup Tips are for those who are involved in producing WordCamp and WordPress Meetup events to offer their tips and advice for those who wish to or need some inspiration and motivation with their event. Please join the LinkedIn WordCamp group and have your say on how your event is working, what you would like to see improve, and help others improve their WordPress events.

Cali Lewis of GeekBrief.TV is speaking upon community building as an expert of a video blog about tech news, reviews, and commentary.

Rule One – Know Thyself – Know They Blog! You must have value and know who you are and what you are capable of for your blog content. You can get caught up in a Blog Bog – you can’t have passion without a mission. You have to have a core brand value to get you “to the final frontier.” You may have a passion, but without a clear purpose and identity, you can’t go any further.

Rule Two – Start Compelling Conversations! Blogs made it possible for people to find talents they didn’t know they had, it helped give them a voice in world that wasn’t accessible before. Having the option to say anything you want can lead to clutter.

Rule Three – Value. You must offer value to give people a return on their investment of time during their visit to make them return for more. After you have established your core brand value and identity, you have to give them value, to find your audience and get them to come back and return with their friends.

She talked about using TweetDeck to find your audience. Set up columns with one using Twitter Search using keywords or phrases. It turns up all the results of those keywords. This allows you to track those discussing these subjects and participate in the discussion.

Rules Four – Make Friends Not Fans – We don’t talk at our audience in today’s new media. We talk with them. Ask questions, not just give answers. It creates a loyal audience. A loyal audience that wants to tell the world about you, sharing your funny or water cooler stories, so they will encourage others to visit your site.

Those with fans tend to disappoint their fans. Those with friends have a much “healthier” relationship with those who follow their sites. When you can’t access people or talk to them, when your platform is too far away from the people. When you maintain a relationship with others, you get more friends and loyalty.

Get away from the computer. Get face-to-face in addition to the virtual-to-virtual. Have meetups with your local fans when you travel. Listen to your audience. Listen to the opinions coming from everywhere, but you don’t have to act upon it, just listen, and decide for yourself which way to go. Too many cooks spoil the soup.

If you are participating in the community, you are a valuable asset to the community. You have people communicating and interacting, you have to maintain the level, and keep building the interactions. You have to reward participation.

Rule Five – Reward Participation. Giveaways, contests, create incentives for people to come to your blog, it helps the interactivity. When you begin, it might not be possible to attract a lot of people for the contest, but keep working at it. Start building relationships, show appreciation by giving free acknowledgments and appreciations, give away free schwag, blog about them, find a way to give back and move towards higher compensation as your site grows.

Rule Six – Take Breaks! Take a break. Get away. Think television shows. They take time off. Give your audience a chance to miss you. It helps you to come back refreshed with new energy and ideas.

Rule Seven – Always Upgrade. Upgrade your technology, software, services, blog, everything. Always be improving. Be striving for better, and better. Upgrade equipment, but also upgrade quality of content. Evolve. People love watching people grow and change and evolve.

Start with simple, grow slow. Keep learning, keep improving, let the audience see you care by changing with the times and their interests and abilities.